Inspiration For Your Mindful Morning Routine

Even the earliest of birds can find it difficult to get out of bed when outside the warmth of your covers, there is nothing but the crisp winter air, no sunlight yet to be seen and the prospect of having to at some point leave the hot shower. To make it a little easier on myself, I have created a mindful routine that helps me start my day the right way. And I am so, so grateful for all these activities that I know will make me feel so much better than just lying in bed, waiting until the very last minute to jump out of bed and get ready for uni.

It can be a daunting process to begin with, and by no means do I do all of these on a daily basis – but I try. So without further ado, here it is: my mindful morning routine.

Step 1: Hydration.

I don’t know about you, but if I drink any water in the last hour before sleepy time, I will have to get up multiple times throughout the night to pee. No excuses. My boyfriend and I have even dubbed me ‘pee factory’, because there is literally no way I won’t produce a new ‘batch’.

So the first thing I do is drink my morning cocktail, which I prepped the night before. And no, there is no alcohol in there.

Since I am already up, I turn on the heater in the bathroom and close the door.

Step 2: Meditate.

You know when you meet me whether I meditated that morning or not. Meditation allows me to feel remarkable clarity and awareness, and I do my best not to miss out on this mindful quality time with myself.

I usually shoot for 20 minutes, and more if it’s the weekend, but I’ll settle for anything above 10 minutes if there really is no time. To me, what counts is the act of taking this time for myself, and being grateful.

Step 3: Meditation in Movement.

Now, this I am still in the process of incorporating. It’s more of a 4 times out of 5 right now. But it does me a world of good, so I am desperately trying to incorporate some morning yoga into my routine.

It is never above 20 minutes, but it is free, unstructured movement, along with soothing music and candle light. Most of all, it’s training me to stay mindful and in the moment, which is still tremendously hard for me.

Step 4: Getting ready.

This is simple. I won’t go into detail on this.

I will say, however, that the quality of my getting ready process improved tenfold when I began to turn on the heater before my meditation. By the time I am ready to shower, my bathroom is nice and toasty, which means I am not contemplating living in the shower permanently to escape the cold every morning. This drastically decreased my shower time, so I don’t feel too bad about the added energy expense of turning the heater on.

Step 5: Cuddles.

Yes, this is part of my daily morning routine. Fully dressed, I get under the covers to check the news, emails and Instagram, while my boyfriend is still dozing on my lap.

It’s perfection.

Step 6: Breakfast.

I love making myself a nutritious, filling and delicious breakfast in the morning while chatting to my boyfriend. If I have a really early start, I’ll prepare it the night before and eat it on the subway, but I never skip out on it. Again, you’d know if I went without breakfast that day if you met me.

And that’s it. I can’t stress enough how much this mindful morning routine helps me to set the right intention for my day. It centres me to prepare me for the more stressful moments of my day – which do exist. I promise, my life is not all blissful calm and chants and sunlight. But I try my best to create the light myself.